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Did Kim Kardashian compromise her security via social media?

The dangers of over-sharing

The news of reality star, Kim Kardashian’s, recent robbery ordeal in Paris has been widely reported in the media. She was reportedly held at gun point and tied up while the robbers got away with $9 million worth of jewellery. This must have been a very traumatic experience – but could she have compromised her own security with the very thing that made her famous in the first place – social media?

We have long warned of the danger of sharing too much on social media – announcing holidays and showing off expensive items can alert would-be burglars to where you are and what you have. Kim is well known for her love of social media and indeed her whole brand is built upon it so she’s a prolific poster. Following this incident therefore, her posts have been scrutinised by the media to see whether she could have given out information that made her a target.

Where she was

This article demonstrates how it could have been a relatively simple task to work out where she was. While her posts on Twitter and Instagram were not geo-tagged, there were several clues in her pictures that could have given a savvy criminal with knowledge of the area a good idea where she was: the windows in the hotel are quite distinctive and there have previously been reports of her staying there when she’s in Paris.

What she had

Her posts could have also made her a target as many featured her very valuable jewellery, including her engagement ring which was believed to be worth $4 million for that item alone. A case of jewellery worth another $5 million was also taken – many items of which she had featured in her social media posts. See a fuller article here.

Social media in ‘real life’

Most of us don’t have $9 million-worth of jewellery kicking around and most of us are not as widely followed as Kim but we can draw parallels. While this is an extreme case, it does highlight the danger of sharing too much on social channels. So many people post about being away on holiday or show off a lovely gift that someone may have just bought them or some gadget they’ve treated themselves to and the principle is the same. It is estimated that 90% of burglars regularly check social media to see if they can glean something that could help them do what they do best – burgle homes. You may think your security controls are set high but it only takes a friend to comment, share or tag a post and the audience is suddenly doubled or more and you don’t know who their friends are or their friends of friends of friends. That can be all it takes to hand over information that could compromise your home security.

Whether you are a fan of Kim or not and whether you really care, let her be a lesson to you and just think before you share.

See home security updates all month for National Home Security Month 2016 – running throughout October.